Pixar’s New Princess Is Most Empowered, Least June-Cleaver-y Contribution to the Genre

Fairy-tale princesses have come a long way since Snow White, whom Walt Disney introduced in the 1930s as a beautiful-but-fragile teenager. Only a prince could save delicate Snow White from deathlike slumber in a creepy glass coffin—and when she wasn’t fainting into his arms, she was voluntarily cooking and cleaning for seven slovenly dwarves, free of charge. Nearly 80 years later, Pixar has unveiled a preview for the company's first fairy tale, which features a sprightly princess so empowered, she’s unafraid to outperform the town’s men during a skill contest, shoot dirty looks at family members and, most impressively for a princess, let her frizzy red hair go un-keratined. Somewhere, Cinderella, Aurora, and Bell are surely shrieking. Pitch-perfect, sing-song shrieks that comfort animals nesting nearby, but still.

Note how Princess Merida, who hits theaters in Brave on June 22, is so unwilling to be constrained by rigid societal standards that she symbolically rips the seams on her tight, corseted dress. Note how instead of watching her potential suitors impress her with their archery skills, Princess Merida grabs a bow and arrow and proclaims that she will vie for her own hand in marriage. Feisty! And a little more strong-willed than our most empowered animated movie princess of late, Princess Fiona of Shrek fame, who was, like most princesses, an excellent singer, but also skilled in hand-to-hand combat and lax with her manners. In Brave, Princess Merida is ultimately cursed for her bravery after she defies a tradition in her town and must find a way to remove the spell. (No word yet on whether her immaculately manicured eyebrows play into the plot. We know how well Princess Kate’s figured into her destiny.)